Last weekend, Infidel Media was privileged to grill Malaysian singer/songwriter/actor Pete Teo on his newest project, Malaysian Artistes for Unity (MAFU). MAFU, featuring a star studded cast of Malaysian celebrities and media, has produced ‘Here In My Home’, an anti-racism national unity song and music video. Working with a budget of zero has not hampered the quality of the final product which is now available free for download online.
As expected, Pete is one smart cookie (some of you may require a dictionary). Read the whole interview after the jump and make sure you don’t miss the music video at the end of the interview.
Infidel Media: Perhaps not since Sudirman have we seen a strong social awareness in Malaysian music. What’s taken Malaysian artists so long to make a stand?
Pete Teo: Good question. I have no idea why. Though I suspect it has something to do with fear. Race relations in this country has wavered between the ‘Malaysia Truly Asia’ type feel-good campaign to periodic race supremacists’ rhetoric. This creates uncertainty and fear amongst the people from all communities. It is hard for artistes to publicly take a socially aware stand when the ground might shift whenever certain politicians feel it is politically expedient to shift it. (more…)
